Ice Melting Slowly
by ickcognito
Summary: Bella Swan had always loved Edward Cullen, and everyone, including Edward knew it. When Bella moves on with her best friend Jasper, can Edward handle it? E/B, B/J, Em/R, E/Tanya. AH, OOC, Lemons & Angst.
1. Can't Buy Me Love

**This is my first serious attempt at fanfic. Review, or don't, I don't mind. **

**Much thanks to my beta **_**thisbetaisincognito**_**. I needed the help and you are amazing.**

**To the keepers of the secret, don't say anything or I'll have to lay the smack down.**

_BPOV_

I can't remember a time that I wasn't in love with Edward Cullen.

On my first day of Kindergarten, after informing him that when we grew up he was going to be my husband, I tackled Edward to the ground, jumped on top of him and smothered his face in kisses. For the rest of the year, he cried every time I came near him, and even as a child I realised I had come on too strong.

Grade and middle school passed without too much interaction between us. Edward didn't go out of his way to be my friend, and I avoided him at all costs – embarrassed that my five-year-old self had so pointedly displayed what my tween self tried so hard to hide. When Edward had asked Jessica Stanley to our middle school prom, I locked myself in my room and cried for hours. I went with Eric Yorkie, who gave me my first kiss and my first hickey that night. The same Eric Yorkie, who had to hide from my older brother, Emmett, for weeks after the dance, after Emmett's girlfriend, Rosalie, told him she taught me how to conceal said hickey with make-up.

The Whitlock family moved next door to the Cullens the summer before I was due to start my senior year at Forks High School. Edward and I still had no contact, and I admired him from afar, keeping watch as he grew more handsome and more amazing with each birthday. Not much was known about the Whitlock family; except that they had relocated from the South and that they were quite wealthy. Jasper Whitlock was my age, and had already made fast friends with Edward Cullen. According to Edward's main squeeze Lauren Mallory, who told Angela Weber, who told me; Jasper was tall, blonde, and gorgeous. With striking blue eyes and a Southern twang. Now, it seemed, there were two, gorgeous boys living in Forks that were way out of my league.

Funnily enough, the way Jasper tells it, it was the other way around. Apparently, he had seen me shopping for groceries one day and when he had finally got the courage to introduce himself to me, I'd been locked at the lips with Jacob; as such he'd been too intimidated to talk to me until we were assigned to work together on an English project mid-way through senior year. Jasper became my friend and confidant during those three weeks we worked together, and I soon found myself sitting at a lunch table that included Edward Cullen. I expected things to be awkward between Edward and I, and had even prepared myself to be persona non grata in Edward's world, but I was pleasantly surprised when the opposite occurred.

Jasper had led me over by the hand to the table and introduced me. Lauren Mallory looked like she had swallowed something unpleasant, but Edward and his younger sister Alice, smiled brightly and made room for me at the table. I had just taken a bite out of my turkey sandwich when Edward called my name.

"Bella," his green eyes were sparkling and they literally took my breath away, "not going to hold me down and have your way with me today, are you?"

I choked on my sandwich as Lauren stalked away from the table; Edward had not bothered to follow her. After that lunch, Lauren never joined the Cullens and Jasper for lunch again, but I did. Usually Alice sat with her own friends, but once a week she came and sat with us, catching up on gossip and in-jokes, and to offer girl talk, saving me from crossing the line from being a tomboy to being a guy wearing a dress. As I got to know Edward better, my crush turned to unrequited love and no matter how well I tried to hide it, everyone knew about it, even Edward. I thought I had been clever and deceived my two friends into thinking my feelings for Edward were truly platonic until one drunken night at the apartment the boys shared our first year attending Washington State University. Edward had come up from behind to hug me and kiss my hair.

"Bella," he slurred, "what am I going to do when you meet someone who steals your heart? Who is going to boost my ego then?"

I couldn't see through the tears obscuring my view as I ran out the front door. I tripped over my own feet, and lay face down on the grass crying until I felt a warm hand on my back.

"Bells," It was Jasper, my sweet, caring Jasper. "Bells, listen, you are too fucking good for Edward. Don't you forget that ever. You are worth a million Edward Cullen's." Sometime during his rant, he had lifted me so I was sitting in his lap, and I had clung to his shirt while I cried into his shoulder.

"What's wrong with me, Jazz? Why doesn't he want me?" The world was starting to get black, as I felt a panic attack coming on. Jasper looked on in alarm as I started gulping for air, my nails digging into his arm.

"Jazz, I can't breathe. Jazz! Jazz, don't leave me!"

He cupped my face in his hands and rubbed my cheeks with his thumbs, crooning things I couldn't make out in my hysteria. Two minutes later, I felt my breathing calm, and I was suddenly very tired. I put my head in the crook of his neck and breathed his scent in while he called Emmett.

"Emmett? It's Jasper… Jasper Whitlock,.. Bella's friend. She's had an attack. No, no, it was Edward, he said… it doesn't matter, she's okay now. Yeah, I don't think she is in any state to drive. We're at my place. Okay, see you in five minutes."

Jasper kissed my forehead and murmured sweet words in my ear until Emmett arrived. My brother was an overgrown teddy bear, but right now he looked murderous.

"Where is that piece of shit, Cullen? I don't know why you hang out with him, Bella. All he has ever done is break your heart for his own amusement." I winced at the truth of his statement and ran up to hug him around the waist.

"Em, let's just go, okay? I don't want to be here anymore." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and guided me to the car. He turned and stared at Jasper over his shoulder.

"Thanks Whitlock, you're a good kid."

I smiled half-heartedly at my friend, who looked as devastated as I felt, as I got in the car. Driving away, I turned to look over my shoulder, back at the house where my heart was torn to bits. Jasper stood on the sidewalk out the front, watching us go with his shoulders slumped. I felt tears run over my cheeks. Emmett, sensing my discomfort grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I could almost hear the cogs ticking in his head.

"Isabella," I knew it was serious; I got the full name treatment. "I love you, you know that, right?"

I nodded.

"That prick Cullen makes you cry. Every night after school you'd come home and cry, you follow him to college, out of some misguided puppy love… you deserve better. That Jasper kid loves you so much, Bella… why do you waste your time with Cullen?"

"Em, Jazz doesn't feel like that about me. We're friends."

"Right… he looks at you like I look at my Rosie, and I don't want to be her friend. Well, I do, but it would kill me if that was all we were."

"Emmett Swan, you and Rosalie have been married for two years, I highly doubt you are 'just friends'."

"You know what I mean, Bella. There's plenty of fish in the sea, and that Whitlock kid is prime rib compared to Cullen."

"Prime rib isn't a fish."

"You know what I mean." He gave my hand a final squeeze and started fiddling with the radio.

"Emmett, drive please, we don't need the radio. If we crash and die, Rose will hunt us down and kick our asses for leaving her with the mortgage."

Suddenly, Emmett and my song started playing:

_Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,_

_and I say it's all right_

_Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter_

_Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here_

_Here comes the sun, here comes the sun_

_and I say it's all right_

Emmett was ten times louder than the music as he sang out of tune. He reached up and cupped my face, while I sang softly back to him.

"I love you, kid."

Things between Edward and I were weird after that for two reasons. Firstly; on Monday morning in our English lecture, Edward was sporting a bruised cheek and a mighty fine black eye. When I asked him what happened, he mumbled, "Why don't you ask your boyfriend Jasper?" before walking away and sitting across the theatre from me.

The second came two weeks later. Her name was Tanya. She was the self proclaimed love of Edward's life.


	2. Do You Need Anybody?

**Thanks to: the secret keepers, especially **_**thisbetaisincognito**_**. She says to say she realizes there are grammatical errors but you can all suck her dick.**

**Also, none of this belongs to me. I think I wouldn't know what to do with Twilight if I owned it anyway.**

**To Rob Pattinson, I heard you read fanfic. If you are reading this send me your number. Thanks!**

BPOV

_Three Years Later_

"We have 'Balls of Fury' or 'Blades of Glory' – your choice Bells."

Jasper was looking at me expectantly from in front of the television while holding up the DVD cases in his hands. Friday night had become our DVD, pizza and beer night, where Jasper and I sat huddled under a blanket on the couch, while we forgot the world, usually watching something that would make us laugh. For the last year it had been only the two of us every Friday, after Edward had declared the night immature, and something that "high schoolers did because they couldn't get laid" and walked out, Tanya trailing behind him while smiling apologetically. It was days like that I wondered what I saw in Edward.

"Bells, you still with me? Which one?"

"Balls of Fury, Jazz."

I smiled a little too brightly at my friend, who just chuckled at me and winked. Since Edward had declared our Friday nights juvenile and walked off without a backwards glance, Jasper and I had grown so much closer – he was the House to my Wilson, you know, the friends that everyone just wished would be a couple already. Everyone, it seemed, but Edward, who would go out of his way to belittle our friendship. Jasper sat next to me on the couch, and pulled the blanket over us, while I moved myself against him, moving around until I found a position that was comfortable for us both. That fateful night a year ago was the first night we had sat together under the blanket, Edward storming out when Jasper had reached over and tickled my ribs and I couldn't contain my giggles.

When I remembered back to Edward's hateful glance, I wondered if he could have been jealous, but then I quickly realized that Edward would never want me the way I wanted him. I would always be just a friend, and anyways he had Tanya and they had been together a little under three years now. For all my jealousy, I couldn't hate Tanya. She was witty, kind and more of a friend to me than Edward had ever been. Since his fight with Jasper all those years ago, Edward had run annoyingly hot and cold in my presence, sometimes he'd greet me with a hug, picking me up and twirling me around, and other times he wouldn't even acknowledge my presence, even if I did try to make conversation with him. I would've walked away from the friendship completely if it hadn't been for the moments in between the angst, where Edward and I were true friends – friends that got each other, and finished each other's sentences – but those moments were few and far between.

I was brought out of my reminiscing by Jasper's fingers grazing lightly across my stomach, making my temperature soar. Lately, when Jasper touched me, I didn't feel as a friend should, I felt heat, electricity and a need to touch him more than I realized a friend should want to touch another friend. I'd find myself fantasizing about our DVD nights ending in a much different way, with Jasper taking me off to my bedroom, or his, and instead of my fingers bringing me pleasure it was him - all of him. The only problem being that every time I brought myself to climax, it was Edward's face I saw, and not Jasper's. As if he could sense my discomfort, Jasper turned and faced me.

"Hey Bella, there's something I've been meaning to ask. There's a law ball, and I wondered if you would come with me… you don't have to, I mean…"

"Jasper, I'd love to go with you." I quickly took an inventory of the outfits I had in my wardrobe. "I don't have anything to wear though."

"No problems, little lady. I asked Tanya and she's offered to help." Even after years in Washington, he still spoke with a Southern lilt.

"Great! When is it?"

"Next Friday. So you had to come anyway."

"Why is that, Mr. Whitlock?"

He smiled his beautiful smile, and I felt my breath catch. "Because, who else can I spend my Friday nights with seeing as I'm juvenile and can't get laid?"

He was still giggling when he rested his forehead against mine and rubbed my nose with his own.

"Bells," he whispered, "I'm so happy you said yes."

After he placed lingering pecks on the tip of my nose and on my forehead, we settled down and watched the rest of the movie, feeling the perceptible shift in our friendship.

***

On Sunday morning, I was up at 8AM, paying the punishment for spending the previous day mooning over Jasper. Did I want to be more than friends? I think I did. Did I still love Edward? Without a doubt. So where did that leave Jasper and I? While I needed to know the answers, I needed to research for a paper due this week. I'd be no good to Jasper or Edward if I failed a class and had to go to my father for help for summer school.

I could smell eggs and bacon cooking in the kitchen. I hoped it was Emmett cooking and not Rose – especially not moody, pregnant Rose who burned everything she cooked and cried about it later due to hormones. I'd come to live with Emmett and his wife and high school sweetheart Rosalie in Seattle when I had started University. Charlie, mine and Emmett's father, was happier knowing I was being taken care of by Emmett and that I had a stern mother figure in Rosalie who wouldn't allow strange men into her house. Not because she wanted to protect my virtue, but rather because she didn't want the unwashed masses sullying her doorstep. Rose could be a snob, but she loved my brother and me more than we could imagine and she told us so every day, she just didn't like outsiders mistaking her feelings for weakness. I could hear them from the dining room which adjourned the kitchen.

"Em, put my shirt down."

"No Rosie, I have to do this."

I covered my eyes and made loud banging noises on my way in, alerting them to my presence. I heard them both laugh and peeked out of my left eye and saw Emmett on his knees, his ear pressed against Rosalie's flat stomach while Rose cradled his head in her hands. Emmett turned back to Rose's stomach and rolled his eyes.

"That's your Aunty Bella, baby. She's a silly little thing with a dirty perverted mind. Not that your momma doesn't have one of those… and a mouth to match..."

A bang reverberated around the room as Rose slapped Emmett across the back of the head.

"Sorry baby, that's my cue to finish the eggs for the ladies in my life. I love you, my little bun in the oven."

He kissed Rose's stomach and returned to the stove to finish the eggs. I looked at Rose through the tears swimming in my eyes to see her wiping hers away.

"Bella, did you want to feel my stomach?"

"What stomach, Rose? You're 8 weeks along; you don't even look like you're retaining water. I look more pregnant than you do."

We sat down and ate our eggs to the sounds of Emmett's belching and loud chewing. Whilst she shot him looks of disgust from across the table, Rose still held his hand in hers while she ate, his thumb rubbing circles across the back of her hand.

"So, what time did Jasper leave last night?" Emmett asked when he had inhaled his eggs and half of Rose's for good measure.

"Um, no later than usual, I think. One or two?"

"Bella," Rose started in a tone that could only lead to trouble, "when are you going to bite the bullet and take a ride on Jasper's bologna pony?"

"Rosalie!" Emmett and I screeched at the same time.

"It's obvious he loves you Bells, and really, as much as I know you love Edward, you need to live your own life. Not just for you, but for Edward, too. You can't know what you're missing until it isn't there anymore. Why not go on one date with Jasper and see where it goes?"

Emmett looked ready to murder his pregnant wife where she stood, and I quickly grabbed my bag and headed for the door.

"Um, I have a date with Jasper on Friday night. He's taking me to the Law Ball. Okay, bye".

Emmett looked like someone had just hit him with a shovel; his silence was deafening. Rose's muffled scream of excitement was my cue to leave. I walked as quickly as my legs would let me to my old beat up truck. Did Emmett not like Jasper? No, that wasn't true - they often sat around and watched baseball together, sometimes even with Edward, knocking back beers. Emmett treated Edward with cold contempt, Jasper the opposite. So, that couldn't be it. Maybe, Emmett thought Edward had feelings for me? I highly doubted that. I just didn't know anymore, and it was beginning to drive me insane.

I needed to be on my own with my thoughts. The library would help with that.


	3. I Need Somebody To Love

**Once again, doesn't belong to me. Thanks to my lovely beta. I may not be good at HTML, but um… I'm good at dirty talk?**

**Chapter four should be up in the next few days.**

BPOV

I made it to the library in record time; needing the silence and comfort that being alone with my thoughts brought me. I walked through the doors, across the foyer and down the stairs to a quiet alcove where there was an empty table with two chairs. I sat myself down and proceeded to spread my mess across the table. I didn't have time to muse as I felt a warm hand on my shoulder.

"Bella,"

"Edward! You startled me! What are you doing here?"

He sat down next to me, close enough to touch, but nowhere near enough to be inappropriate. But that was always the case with Edward – he would never be close enough to touch, he'd never want me the way I wanted him to at any rate.

"I went by your place to see if you wanted to go over the English lit paper together, but you'd already gone by then. It's nice to see your brother still hates me."

"Edward, he doesn't hate you, he just doesn't know you. He'd love you if he knew you, everybody does."

I blushed to the roots of my hair, realising what I had said. The smirk on his face was evidence enough that Edward had caught on to my unintended double meaning. He reached across the table and grabbed my hand, lackadaisically rubbing his thumb across my palm. He kept making a figure eight, repeating it over and over again, the heat from his thumb spreading from my palm, up my arm and settling somewhere behind my heart. When it was just the two of us, it was always like this with Edward, I could feel the electricity between us, and he could too – no matter how much he ignored me when we were in the company of others. He turned his head downward toward the book he'd taken out for research, breaking our eye contact. I tried to concentrate on my work, but I had read the same sentence over and over again, and even then I couldn't tell you what it said. Edward's long fingers were now caressing my wrist, and my breathing had become shallow.

"Bella!"

Edward flinched as if my wrist had burned him. Jasper looked from Edward to myself, and back again.

"Was I interrupting something?"

Edward raised his eyebrows in challenge.

"No, Bella and I were just studying. What's it to you, Whitlock?"

You could light kindling with the heat radiating from my face. I took a shuddering breath and looked up at Jasper.

"Jazz, nothing was going on. You know we're just friends. Don't make something out of nothing. We don't need to upset Tanya with unnecessary rumours"

Tanya wouldn't believe it anyway, but I didn't want to cause her the slightest bit of worry. Even though she was my true love's true love, I had come to think of Tanya as a close friend and the feeling, as far as I could tell, was mutual. That seemed to mollify Jasper, who grabbed a spare seat from nearby and sat in between Edward and I, and promptly placing his hand on top of mine. Edward's face darkened immediately.

"Why are you here, Jasper? You aren't in English Lit with Bella and I."

"I came by to see my Bells, Rose told me she was here."

Jasper's voice had a hard edge to it that I'd never heard before. Without thinking, I raised my free hand and cupped Jasper's face. Edward took a sharp breath as Jasper turned his head and kissed my palm.

"I can't wait until Friday."

The look on his face left no doubt that he was earnest. My eyes slid over to Edward who sat rigidly with a sneer on his face.

"What's happening on Friday?"

"I asked Bella to be my date for the law ball on Friday, and she said yes. You're going as Tanya's date, right?"

Jasper's smile lit up his face and I couldn't help but smile back at him. His hand squeezed mine and I sighed happily. Our moment was interrupted by the loud bang of Edward's fist on the table.

"When you two are done playing high school crush, come and find me Bella."

He stood up and stormed out. I watched him go as Jasper played with our interwoven fingers, looking as if I'd ripped his heart out when mine had followed Edward out the door.

***

My study session didn't last too much longer after that. Jasper left to leave me to study, and when I finally found Edward he treated me with cold silence. It was better to study on my own, then to sit with someone who clearly didn't want my company.

The sun was setting as I left the library, and I had almost reached my truck when I heard the happy giggle of Tanya Denali coming from my left. I didn't want to look in their direction, but it seemed as if I subconsciously wanted to cause myself pain. Edward was sitting on the brick wall that surrounded a small garden, Tanya was sitting on his lap, her head burrowed in his neck as he leaned down and said something in her ear, making her giggle more. It always amazed me how their displays of affections stabbed my heart, opening the wound that was never fully healed. I turned my head quickly as he captured her lips with his own. I had turned and was walking in the other direction when I heard Tanya call out to me.

"Bella! Bella! Come here lady, I've missed you!"

Tanya jogged over to me, looking like she stepped off the set of Baywatch. She smelled of expensive perfume as she hugged me.

"Bella, Edward was telling me that you're coming to the ball with Jasper. It's about time! I'm so excited! We can go get our hair done together!"

"Thanks Tan, but I think Rose is going to help me get ready, and I'm not one for hairdressers anyway."

I turned to greet Edward, who had made his way over to join us. His jaw clenched as he looked at me.

"Whitlock not here, then?"

"No, Jazz went home after…"

I trailed off, not wanting to alert Tanya to Edward's temper tantrum. She eyed us both warily as she smiled a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Did you want to join us for dinner, Bella? We're heading down to that Thai place down the road."

"No thanks. I've got to head home. Rose and Emmett will be wondering where I am."

Tanya hugged me again. "I'll see you Friday Bella. It's going to be so great… the four of us. It'll be just like a double date."

I just nodded, the lump in my throat making speech incapable. I nodded to Edward, and smiled a half-hearted smile to Tanya and cried all the way home.

***

Friday rolled around quickly. I hadn't seen Edward, except in my lecture where he sat as far from me as he possibly could or Tanya since my breakdown outside the library. I was annoyed that I had let my old habits resurface – I hadn't cried after seeing Tanya and Edward together in months, I didn't understand why I had relapsed. Jasper had also been giving me space, but he would call every day, letting me know how much he was looking forward to Friday, and how he was counting down the days.

I came home on Wednesday afternoon to find a stunning dark green gown hanging from my door. It was floor length and one shouldered, with a strap that crossed my back, and it was all Rose. She hugged me around the shoulders and put her chin on my head.

"Do you like it? I saw it and I knew it would make Jasper cream his pants, and I made Em buy it for you."

The tears welled up again. I was sick of crying.

"Rose, you didn't have to, but thank you. It's beautiful."

"Just make sure you make the most of it. Friday night is going to be special," she placed her hands on her stomach, "we can feel it."

Friday was a lazy day. I painted my nails, washed my hair and did a thorough hair removal. Rose had offered to do my hair, and Emmett had promised not to ruin it.

"Sit still Bella, before I hit you with this hairbrush." Rose was frustrated at my fidgeting.

"If you threaten my niece or nephew like that, I'll have no reason but to sue you for custody."

She smacked me with the brush and pulled a chunk of my hair up to sit high on my head.

"You're lucky it was a brush and not the curling iron."

I closed my eyes and let Rose do her thing. I sat through pulling, curling, pinning and hairspray. Finally, it stopped and I could feel Rose hovering behind me.

"Open your eyes and tell me you like it. I have a curling iron and I'm not afraid to use it."

My hair was beautiful. It was pulled back off my face, with long curls cascading down my back – it reminded me of something Angelina Jolie would have on the red carpet.

"Rose I love it. It's beautiful."

"I know. Don't cry, it'll ruin your make up."

Ten minutes later I was dressed and on my way down to greet Jasper at the door. He looked amazing in a chocolate brown suit, an ivory vest and a brown cravat at his neck. He took my breath away.

"Hey you."

I heard his breath catch and looked up at him through my eyelashes. He walked over and pecked my lips. He pulled away and looked at me for permission when we heard Emmett bound into the room.

"Whitlock, watch where you put your hands. My father is the Chief of Police in Forks. I could kill you and he wouldn't bat an eyelid. Rosie wants to take pictures. Come on."

I rolled my eyes, and grabbed Jasper's hand, dragging him behind me as we followed Emmett into the living room. Rosalie was perched on the arm of the couch with her camera in hand and a smile on her face. She quickly bossed us into position as she took photos. She was scrolling through her photos with a smile on her face, when she smirked in Jasper's direction.

"My, my Jasper, don't we clean up well? What do you think of Bella's dress? Is it enough for the ball?"

It felt as if my heart would jump out of my chest when Jasper looked down at me, his blue eyes shone with adoration.

"She's perfection."

Emmett came bounding into the room at that very moment. It was as if he had an inbuilt detector for this sort of moment. His grin was large and his eyes were watery.

"Em, are you okay?"

"Yeah. Look, Bells, I want to give you something to wear tonight. It was mom's…"

"I don't want to wear anything _she_ owned."

"Bella, she never wore it. Dad got it for her for birthday, the winter before she left. Dad and I walked around Port Angeles all day, and then we saw this and dad bought it straight away. I think he thought she would appreciate the cost and, I don't know, love him again or something. When she left, dad found it in the bottom of her closet. It wasn't even unwrapped…"

Emmett looked distraught at the memory. I was only five years old when my mother, Renee, walked out on us, but Emmett was thirteen and he could understand our father's devastation much better than I could. Charlie was broken and quiet for years, until he met his new wife Victoria.

"Anyway, Dad and I kept this for you. Sort of waiting until the right moment – we thought your wedding day, but tonight… well, tonight your life is going to go in a whole new direction."

He looked then at Jasper, who nodded once to acknowledge Emmett's unspoken message in the words. He was giving Jasper his blessing. He grabbed my hand and placed the delicate diamond tennis bracelet around my wrist. The simple beauty of it took my breath away.

"Em… I don't know what to say…"

"Don't say anything, just go and have fun. Listen to your heart for once Bells, and not your head."

He walked us to the door and as Jasper walked towards the car, Emmett gave me a fierce hug.

"I love you, Chunky Potato." he said reverting to my childhood nickname.

"I love you too, Em. You and Rosalie. Thank you."

I turned away before Emmett saw the tears in my eyes and walked towards Jasper.

***

We reached the hotel ballroom where the ball was being held faster than I had realised. The drive had been quiet, Jasper humming quietly to the best of Eric Clapton CD he had in his car the only sound as I sat looking out the window, lost in thought.

The ballroom was huge, and a band was setting up on a stage that over looked the dance floor. The space was dimly lit, with the candles that were flickering adding to the mood, rather than brightening the room. Jasper had spotted some friends, and one of his law professors and I told him I was going to the bathroom to freshen up. In reality, I was hiding a behind a potted tree like a little girl playing hide and seek with her friends. Well, it wasn't too far of a stretch, as I was hiding from the only three people on my Christmas card list. Just then I saw Edward come to stand near my hiding spot. He looked resplendent in a black dinner and matching black bowtie. His reddish-brown hair was slicked back and he was freshly shaved. My heart beat faster as I took in his beauty, and it only calmed once I realised Tanya was by his side. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a severe bun, and her strapless black dress fell to the floor. They looked like they had stepped off a runway from Fashion Week in Paris, and decided to drop by for the night. I decided to shrink further into the shadows.

"Edward!" Tanya hissed through clenched teeth, "What's wrong with you? Can you calm down, please?"

"Nothing is wrong, Tanya. Keep your voice down! People are looking."

"I don't care if they are looking, Edward, these are my colleagues, not yours. I should be the one caring what they think. Not you. What is wrong? Talk to me, please. Is it Jasper and –"

Edward looked angry and turned away, but Tanya wasn't backing down. She took a step towards him and grabbed his bicep.

"Edward, please talk to me… I love you."

Edward turned back, grabbed Tanya's face and leant in and kissed her lips. My heart couldn't take it anymore and I walked away, over to find Jasper. I spotted his blonde hair from across the room and strode over to him, placing my arms around his waist from behind and pressing my cheek into his back. He grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles one by one as he walked us over to our table, still joined by my arms around him. When we reached our destination, he spun me around to face him.

"Stay here, I'm going to go get us some champagne. I'll be right back."

He pressed a kiss to my hair and strode off towards a waiter with a tray of drinks. I surveyed the room for Edward and Tanya but they were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps their fight led to an uncontrollable bout of passion and they had to go home to bed immediately? My heart hurt at the mere thought. I could feel someone behind me, and I turned to face what I assumed would be Jasper.

"About time I was getting thirsty –"

"Excuse me miss, is this table 34 –"

Edward and I had spoken at the same time, and I smiled up at him. I could tell from the look on his face he didn't immediately recognise me.

"Yes, Edward, you are sitting next to me and Tanya is next to you. I checked the seating arrangements on my way in."

His mouth dropped open, and his eyes perused my body, stopping only when they met my own.

"Bella? You look so beautiful."

"Can't believe it's plain old me, hey Edward? I mean, I don't usually appear on your radar, so it's no surprise you didn't notice me now."

"I always notice you Bella, even when I don't want to, even when I shouldn't…"

Jasper and Tanya appeared then – Jasper looking upset and Tanya looking suspiciously between Edward and I. Edward reached out and pulled her to his side, his arm sitting upon her hip possessively. She noticeably moved away from him, and touched my hand.

"You look amazing, Bella."

Her eyes held unshed tears. I tried to diffuse the uncomfortable atmosphere.

"Oh, it's all Rose, not me."

"Bella, all she did was add to the gorgeous woman that is you and made you sparkle a bit more. Isn't that right Edward?"

Edward opened his mouth but it was Jasper who answered, "She's the most beautiful woman in the world."

I smiled at him and cupped his cheek. As he leaned into the warmth of my palm, Edward made a spectacle of sitting at his appointed seat. Half way through dinner, Jasper placed his hand on my thigh and I jumped at the unexpected contact, pushing my other leg against Edward's. He eyed Jasper wearily and I moved my leg away from his, muttering an apology as I did so. After a minute wherein I felt the loss of contact, he moved his thigh back beside mine, ever so gently. If Edward meant anything by it, he didn't show it – in fact he looked calm and in control. Perhaps, I was reading too much into it, it wouldn't be the first time.

Dinner and speeches passed without incident, Edward's thigh still pressed against mine. The band started up and Jasper grabbed my hand.

"My lady, can I have this dance?"

He guided me to the middle of the floor, and we were followed by Tanya and Edward, who took up the spot next to us. Jasper tugged me closer to him; until I was almost standing on his toes, as the band started playing _You Don't Know Me_, I laid my head on Jasper's chest, gently nuzzling my cheek against it, and looked over at Edward, who was now in a heated argument with Tanya. She pushed away from him and ran towards the bathroom. Edward followed in the same direction but stood on the outskirts on the dance floor, his eyes locked on me.

_You give your hand to me_

_And then you say hello_

_I can hardly speak_

_My heart is beating so_

_And anyone can tell_

_You think you know me well_

_But you don't know me_

I looked over at Edward and wrapped my arms around Jasper a little bit tighter. Edward's eyes narrowed, but he didn't look away.

_Oh you don't know the one_

_That thinks of you at night_

_Who longs to kiss your lips_

_And yearns to squeeze you tight_

_No I'm just a friend_

_That's all I've ever been_

_You just don't know me_

_I never knew the art of making love_

_Though my heart aches with_

_love for you_

_Afraid and shy, I let my chance go by_

_The chance that you_

_might love me too_

I closed my eyes and looked up at Jasper, who was looking at Edward like he would give his right arm to walk over there and beat him to death. I ran my hand through the hair at the back of his neck.

"Jazz, don't worry about him. Let's just dance. Let's just be us."

Jasper placed three gentle kisses on my lips and rubbed his nose along my own. It was the single most romantic thing that had ever happened to me. I took my hands from his shoulders and wrapped them around his waist again, looking back at Edward, who was now following an angry Tanya towards the entrance to the ballroom. He stopped and looked back at me, before he exited and took a bit of my heart with him.

_You give your hand to me_

_And then you say_

_Goodbye_

_I watch you walk away_

_Beside the lucky guy_

_You'll never, never_

_Know_

_The one who loves you so_

_You just don't know me_

_I never knew_

_the art of making love_

_Though my heart aches with love for you_

_Afraid and_

_shy, I let my chance go by_

_The chance that you might love me too_

_You_

_give your hand to me_

_And then you say goodbye_

_I watch you walk_

_away_

_Beside the lucky guy_

_Who'll never, never know_

_The one who loves_

_you so_

_You just don't know me_

_You'll never, ever know_

_mmmm, cause_

_you just don't know me_

Jasper pulled away from me, as the band started playing Bryan Adams' _I'm Ready_.

"Bella, I know I'm not Edward. I never will be, and I never want to be. But I love you, Bella. I love you so much, that when I look at you, you're everything I want for my future. The first day I saw you in Forks, I followed you around the grocery store like a stalker, just wanting to look at you. I've never seen anything so beautiful…"

_I'd like to see ya thought I'd let you know  
I wanna be with you everyday  
Cause I got a feelin' that's beginning to grow  
And there's only one thing I can say_

He kissed me then, and I felt myself respond.

"I want to be with you, Bella. I know you feel something for me… not as strong, but I'm willing to wait. I'd wait forever for you, Bells."

_I'm ready_

_To love you_

_I'm ready_

_To hold you_

_I'm ready_

_To love you_

_I'm ready_

_To hold you_

_I'm ready as I'm gonna be_

I was never going to be happy with the way things were now; constantly pining over someone I could never have and who didn't want me in return. With Jasper though, I could have some semblance of happiness. So with that thought, I firmly locked the piece of my heart that belonged to Edward away, never to open it again, and I kissed Jasper. We both deserved to be happy and I was willing to try for the both of us.


End file.
